West Allis -- Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney came to State Fair Park Friday to offer a closing argument on the campaign and stir up thousands of supporters who roared "four more days."

"What a great state, what a great welcome. This state is going to help me become the next President of the United States," Romney said.

In an address titled "Real Change From Day One," Romney told the crowd, "we're going to win on Tuesday night."

The battle over the word change has become a centerpiece of the campaign between Romney and President Barack Obama.

"The closing hours of a campaign have a dynamic of their own," Romney said. "Many voters have known for some time who they will vote for. Others are just now putting aside the demands of daily life and considering how their vote will affect their life, the lives of their children, and the course of the country we love."

Asking the crowd to "look beyond the speeches and attack and ads," Romney said, "Words are cheap. A record is real and earned with effort. Real change is not measured in words. It is measured in achievements."

He said Obama promised to be a post-partisan president but became an attacking president.

Romney said "unemployment is higher today than when Barack Obama took office."

He attacked the president's record on jobs, the debt and energy.

"He never led before. He never worked across the aisle before," Romney said.

"The same course we have been on will not lead to a better destination," Romney said. "The same path we're on means $20 trillion in debt in four years, means staggering unemployment."

"The question of this election comes down to this: do you want more of the same or do you want real change? And we want real change," Romney said.

"Candidate Obama promised change but couldn't deliver it. I promise change and I have a record of achieving it," he said, ticking off his record of building a business, leading the Salt Lake City Olympics and serving as governor of Massachusetts.

"If you're tired of being tired, I ask you to vote for real change," Romney said, adding that he and his running mate, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, will "bring real change from day one."

He said even though the economy will still be stagnant when he's elected, he won't spend time "blaming my predecessor," a subtle dig at Obama pinning blame on his predecessor, former President George W. Bush.

Romney vowed that if elected, "I will work with Republicans and Democrats in Congress. I will meet with them regularly."

"I won't just represent one party, I will represent one nation," Romney said.

He reflected on the stakes of the race in the closing days of the election, telling the audience: "We are four days away from a fresh start. Four days away from the first day of a new beginning. My conviction that better days are ahead is not based on promises and hollow rhetoric but solid plans and proven results.

"And an unshakeable faith in the American people and the American spirit."

"If there is anyone worried the last four years are the best we can do, if there is anyone who fears that the American dream is fading, if there is anyone who wonders whether better jobs and better pyachecks are things of the epast, I have a clear and unequivable message: with the right leadership America will come roaring back."

Romney said "you saw the differences when President Obama and I were side-by-side in our debates. He says it has to be this way. I say it can't be this way. He's offering excuses, I've got a plan. He's hoping we'll settle. I can't wait for us to get started."

"Americans don't settle. We build. We aspire. We listen to the voice inside us, we can do better."

The Romney rally comes on the heels of polls that show a tight race in Wisconsin. Obama, who was in Ashwaubenon Thursday, is due to return to Wisconsin Saturday for a rally in Milwaukee and Monday for a rally in Madison.

"We want to make sure we lock it in and it's definitely in our column," Obama surrogate Robert Gibbs said on CBS.

"With three visits to the state in the final week of the election, it's clear the Obama campaign is worried about his growing Wisconsin problem," said Nicole Tieman, Wisconsin communications director for the Republican National Committee. "Three campaign stops to the state in the final week of the election don't reflect the actions of a confident President Obama."

U.S. Rep. Tom Petri told the crowd, "this coming Tuesday, all across America, worried citizens will go to the polls. And they will ask themselves what can I do to get my country back on track?"

"And they will answer, I can vote for leadership for a change, I can vote for Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan," he said.

"I feel in my bones that next Tuesday here in Wisconsin we will vote to send Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan to the White House," Petri added.

Former governor Tommy Thompson, in a tight U.S. Senate race against Democratic congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, punched his fists in the air as he went to the podium and spoke to the crowd.

"I love you," Thompson said to roars of "Tommy, Tommy."

"Isn't it great to be from Wisconsin?" Thompson said. "Wisconsin is the epicenter of politics today. And if Barack Obama thought he would win Wisconsin he would not be here three days this week. We're going to retire him and elect Mitt Romney."

"They asked me, what about the enthusiasm in Wisconsin? All they have to do is just inhale the air here and they all know we're on a track to win Wisconsin," he added.

"When we reclaim the hill, we're going to build that shiny city on the hill that Ronald Reagan said," Thompson said. "We are going to build it, not the government, ladies and gentlemen."

"It's time to retire Barack Obama, put in a president and vice president that's going to bring back that freedom in America," Thompson added.

Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, said "Are you guys ready to hire Mitt Romney, fire Barack Obama and save America? Are you ready to win?"

"This is our rendezvous with destiny," Priebus said.

"We're in a battle for freedom and Mitt Romney is the antidote," he added. "We have a choice between a man of his word and ... a man of many words. We're going to take a man of his word and that's Mitt Romney."

Gov. Scott Walker told the crowd that "two years ago today, on Nov. 2, my birthday, you elected me 45th governor of the state of Wisconsin. Today is my 45th birthday," adding that he didn't want gifts or presents, but instead, wanted those in the audience to work in the final days to elect Romney.

Walker talked up the Republican Party's get-out-the-vote effort in Wisconsin.

About Bill Glauber

Bill Glauber is a general assignment reporter, focusing on profiles and politics.